Grinding Gear Games permanently banned Jenebu's Path of Exile account on 26 March 2026. The decision was swift, absolute, and final: GGG marked the ban as 'Not Appealable.' No second chances. No detailed explanation. Just a locked account and the loss of everything within it.
Jenebu built something substantial over the years. He is the founder and owner of The Forbidden Trove (TFT), the largest third-party trading Discord server in PoE history, with over 700,000 members. For years, TFT filled gaps in PoE's official trade system, and for a long time it was the only option for high-end play. What began as a solution to clunky official mechanics evolved into the game's de facto trading hub.
The account that was suspended is not an ordinary one. Jenebu's account held more than 1,500 items, many of them legacy mirror-tier pieces built with crafting mechanics from past leagues that no longer exist and can never be recreated. In Path of Exile's economy, a Mirror of Kalandra is the rarest currency item in the game. Mirror services enable players to obtain duplicates of high-value, mirror-tier items through the use of a Mirror of Kalandra orb, a scarce currency item that duplicates an existing rare or unique item. The typical process requires the customer to provide the mirror orb to the service operator, who then duplicates the desired item and trades the resulting copy back to the customer in exchange for a fee.
These items were not theoretical wealth. They were the operational foundation of TFT's most profitable service. The ban also effectively kills TFT's mirror service operation, one of the server's main money-making functions. Players who had entrusted their mirrors to Jenebu for duplication now find themselves unable to access them.
The reason for the ban remains opaque. Grinding Gear Games permanently banned his Path of Exile account for terms of service violations, an action that generated significant discussion in the community amid speculation about possible real-money trading (RMT) or use of unauthorized applications, though the developer provided no detailed official explanation. The allegation of real-money trading has long shadowed third-party trading platforms in online games. Whether GGG detected actual violations or acted on suspicion, the studio has chosen not to say.
This opacity creates a genuine accountability problem. When a developer bans an account of this prominence and marks it non-appealable, transparency matters enormously. Other players rightfully ask: what behaviour triggered this? What evidence supports it? What is the threshold between legitimate and prohibited conduct? GGG marked the ban as 'Not Appealable', which means Jenebu has no formal avenue to contest the decision.
The community response has split along familiar lines. Some argue that TFT operated in ethical grey zones for years, and that developer enforcement was overdue. Others point to TFT's genuine value to high-end players and the absence of concrete explanation as troubling. The permanent ban of Jenebu's Path of Exile account renewed community discussions about The Forbidden Trove, including longstanding criticisms of its moderation practices and influence on trading. Players have expressed ongoing frustration with TFT's staff conduct, including reports of arbitrary suspensions, lack of clear explanations or effective appeal processes, and unprofessional moderator responses.
That irony is not lost on observers: a platform criticised for lack of transparency and appeal processes has been shut down by developer action characterised by the same opacity.
The practical fallout is significant but perhaps not catastrophic. The server will likely not result in disruption for the larger PoE community. The server was formed long before Async Trade or Currency Exchange existed in Path of Exile. During that time, it was common for players to get together and strike a deal for exchanging in-game items. Since trading is no longer a problem, the only reason remaining is mirroring services, which most players cannot afford, as it requires a Mirror of Kalandra. Casual players will experience minimal friction. High-end players dependent on mirror services face genuine inconvenience.
What remains unresolved is the broader question of how developers should enforce their terms of service when dealing with prominent community figures. Grinding Gear Games has every right to enforce its rules. But players are entitled to know what rules were broken and why. A ban marked 'Not Appealable' on a high-profile account, issued without public explanation, corrodes trust in the fairness of the enforcement process, regardless of whether the underlying decision was justified.